Chapter 42

Tossing and turning all night, Li Jingming felt extremely uncomfortable when he got up early in the morning. This "bed" was really not to his liking. He walked to the open space in front of the house, breathing in the cool morning air, and waited for the first purple rays of dawn to fall. Li Jingming then got into position and started practicing Tai Chi. This was not the simplified Tai Chi, nor was it the Tai Chi fitness exercises that the elderly in the park practiced. This was the genuine Tai Chi passed down from Wudang.

Those martial arts experts always practiced under the first rays of the morning sun, which is actually the same principle as the legendary demons absorbing moonlight under the moon. Demons are yin, and by absorbing moonlight, they can absorb the essence of heaven and earth. Moonlight is the extreme of yin, as the character for yin on the right is a moon. Similarly, humans are yang, and the character for yang on the right is a sun, so as long as there is the sun, it will... cough, cough, as long as there is sunlight, it will be very comfortable.

Sunlight and moonlight are different. Sunlight is too intense and powerful, and directly absorbing the essence of the sun usually results in being burned to death. However, the first rays of the morning sun are gentle and pure, making them the favorite of practitioners. Why don't people develop inner strength from sunbathing? It's because the method is not correct. With more practice, there will always be a day of success. Why are Africans physically stronger than others? This is the reason. (This is fictional, don't blame me if you get tanned.)

"Li Kan, stop playing and come eat breakfast," Jin Runshu called out to Li Jingming to get up. Seeing him practicing, she shouted directly. Li Jingming's early rise saved her the trouble of using other means.

"I've already eaten, I'm not hungry," Li Jingming thought to himself that he should have just slipped away and driven back to Seoul.

"Don't fool around, what did you eat? Come over quickly," Jin Runshu shouted like a middle-aged woman, completely lacking the grace of a well-bred lady. Even if she were a lady, she wouldn't need to put on such an act in front of her son.

Li Jingming had a reason for being so unwilling to eat breakfast at his grandfather's house. In traditional Korean families, it is customary to eat "home-cooked meals" for all three meals of the day, meaning that traditional Koreans basically eat the same things for all three meals.

Five minutes later, Li Jingming sat in front of a low table with a pained expression, his head hanging like a sick chick. The white, soup-like substance in front of him might look like congee, but it was actually a bowl of ginseng chicken soup! On the table were also soybean paste pork soup, pear juice beef patties, dried cod, scallops, various kimchi, and a large lobster in a pot.

All of these were definitely delicious, but who has an appetite for such a heavy meal after getting up early?

"Mom, I haven't brushed my teeth yet," Li Jingming said, touching his nose.

"Brush them later," Jin Runshu glared at Li Jingming.

"I need to go to the bathroom," Li Jingming tried to use the "urine escape" method.

"Hold it," Jin Runshu was unmoved.

"Am I really your biological child? Why are you so heartless?" Li Jingming started to use his charm on his mother.

In the end, Li Jingming couldn't escape. In the Li family, once the meal started, wasting food was not allowed. The others were fine, but the bowl of ginseng chicken soup, under the kind smile of his grandmother and the caring instructions of his mother, he had to force himself to eat it all. Li Jingming decided that if anyone ever said ginseng chicken soup was a light dish in front of him, he would punch them in the face.

After a big summer meal, Li Jingming felt a warm sensation in his lower abdomen, and a surge of vitality surged within him. While driving, he barely resisted the urge to floor the gas pedal. On such a sunny Sunday morning, there were many more cars on the road. People living in Seoul were thinking about going out to play, and those living outside Seoul were thinking about going in to visit. So, it took Li Jingming more than two hours to drive what should have been a one-hour trip.

When he arrived at LAD Company, it was almost ten o'clock. Li Jingming parked and went in, finding the same receptionist.

"Don't you rest on weekends?" Li Jingming greeted her.

The receptionist nodded and greeted Li Jingming, then blushed and replied, "We have a rotating shift system, and this week it's my turn to be on duty."

"You don't have to be so formal, you might even be my older sister," Li Jingming smiled, seeing her bow.

"I was born in 1983," the receptionist said, revealing her birth year.

"Hello, Yoon So-nuna (a guest appearance), I was born in 1986," Li Jingming smiled and bowed. He had glanced at her name tag, which read "Yoon So." This was clearly a Chinese name, but her Korean was very fluent, with no foreign accent. "Are you Chinese?"

"Yes, my father came from China to do business here and met my mother in Korea," Yoon So was still a bit reserved after being called "nuna." "When I was ten, my family settled in Korea with my father."

"I lived in China for a long time; it's a great country," Li Jingming said with a nostalgic look, remembering those sunny days.

"Really, you've been to China?" Yoon So felt more familiar with Li Jingming after hearing that he had been to China and seemed to like it.

Li Jingming nodded and said, "I lived there for four years and attended high school in Moudou."

"Is that so? It's an ancient city, I haven't been there yet. I'm from the north," Yoon So looked forward to visiting the ancient capital.

"Nuna, let's talk later, I need to go up now," Li Jingming looked at the clock on the wall, gave a cute smile, and had to leave. He didn't have much time for idle chat.

Li Jingming walked up to the second floor, where the atmosphere was bustling. He didn't recognize most of the people there, but they all recognized him. Many people smiled at him as they passed by. Li Jingming returned their greetings, but none of them looked younger than him. These people were recruited by Song Seok-jae, mostly students from the SKY Alliance (the initials of Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University).

The reason everyone recognized Li Jingming was twofold. First, on the wall of the stairs leading up from the first floor, his portrait was hung, framed in a box. No one knew what kind of weird taste Song Seok-jae had. Second, Li Jingming's album had already produced 100 sample copies, and the staff had seen the cover, which featured a half-body photo of Li Jingming.

These 100 albums were not for personal collection but were to be sent to professional music critics. After receiving the album, these critics would give their evaluations and publish them online. Some of them even had their own columns in newspapers and magazines. The more authoritative websites and magazines' critics were the main targets of Song Seok-jae's public relations. Objectively, Li Jingming's "Confession" was an excellent choice, and his performance was perfect. Therefore, Song Seok-jae needed to find a way to make others praise the album subjectively.

Selling albums is a complex matter, especially for a debut album by a new artist. In Korea, who would spend over 20,000 won on a DVD album? This is a question that the marketing departments of all music companies are concerned with.

Music lovers, when they encounter music that suits their taste, will buy it. The sound quality of DVDs is far superior to MP3s, and HDCD sound quality is even better. Therefore, audiophiles will buy albums to enjoy with their high-end equipment and keep them as collections. Fans of singers, when their favorite singers release new works, will also buy them. They support their "main" artists unconditionally, and 20,000 won is not a big deal. However, new artists generally don't receive such support. Another group of people spends a lot of time on cultural websites and fashion magazines. If they happen to come across a work that all the critics have praised, they will buy it because the critics often give a lot of professional, sophisticated, and high-end comments, making people feel that listening to such works can improve their taste.

Ordinary people, when they hear a song online, on the street, or in a store, might just nod and say it's "good" and at most download the audio at home, but they won't spend a lot of money to buy the album. If an album becomes a hit online, the 2007 album sales champion would not be SG.Wannabe but Wonder Girls, who sparked a wave of online imitations. If the power of the internet were really that exaggerated, the leading entertainment company would be Leon Entertainment, which owns the Melon music site, not S.M. Entertainment. The job of entertainment companies is to stimulate the potential purchasing desire of these "ordinary people," which is the key to the final sales of an album. Making people who wouldn't normally spend money actually spend it is a true measure of an entertainment company's strength.

Of course, this is just the current situation. The immense power of online media cannot be ignored. Li Jingming knew better than anyone that this power would grow even more. Music downloads would become the most significant data in music promotion, and the proportion of digital music in revenue would continue to increase. Therefore, unlike traditional music companies, Li Jingming placed great importance on the online market. His first step was to ask Jin C to create a teaser and post it on major music sites. He had a series of other actions planned.

Today, Song Seok-jae's abilities amazed Li Jingming. It turned out that every introverted person was just a genius who hadn't put their energy in the right place. In just one day and night, Song Seok-jae had completed all the external contact work, arranged all the necessary benefits, and made all the necessary calls, waiting only for Li Jingming's final confirmation.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Li Jingming saw Baek Geum-hyeon in the CEO's office and went over for a warm American-style greeting, not a hug and a kiss, but a handshake, a fist bump, and a chest bump.

"Your big day is coming, brother, I can't miss it," Baek Geum-hyeon congratulated him and then leaned in, pretending to be mysterious, "My boss is a wicked capitalist, I can only leave my post on weekends to come here and play, brother, you have to understand."

Baek Geum-hyeon's current boss was Li Jing